President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on May 13, Macron discussed new Russia sanctions and stationing French nuclear weapons in other European countries as a deterrent against Russia.
Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for the grand final on May 17.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov will likely represent Russia.
The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
"Ukraine has initiated a coordinated campaign to vilify Hungary in order to undermine our initiative to hold a poll on (Kyiv's) EU membership," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that further concessions from Ukraine during negotiations would be unreasonable if Russia continues to attack civilian targets.
A Tu-22M3 strategic bomber destroyed at Soltsy-2 Airbase, Novgorod Oblast, Russia, Aug. 19, 2023. (Source: Twitter)
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Russian airbases suffered at least nine strikes, leading to damage or destruction of at least 24 military aircraft in Russia, Belarus, and occupied Crimea, the Russian independent news outlet Verstka reported on Aug. 30.
Attributing the attacks to the Ukrainian military, the outlet presented a list of incidents that led to the damage or the loss of a military plane in the Russian rear. Kyiv officials often avoid publicly taking responsibility for strikes against Russian targets outside of Ukraine.
Verstka based its conclusions on data from Russia's Defense Ministry, media reports, and open-source intelligence (OSINT) researchers. In some cases, Ukrainian officials reported higher losses to Russian aircraft than the outlet presented.
The first attack was reported shortly after the start of the invasion on Feb. 25, 2022. A Russian transport plane was destroyed while based at the Millerovo airfield in Rostov Oblast, presumably destroyed either by a drone or a Tochka-U missile, Verstka said.
Four Su-30SM fighters and seven Su-24M bombers were destroyed in an Aug. 9, 2022 attack against the Saki airbase in Crimea. On Dec. 5, 2022, drone strikes against the Engels-2 and Dyagilevo airbases in Saratov and Ryazan oblasts led to the damage of one Tu-22M3 and two Tu-95 bombers.
An A-50 early warning and control plane was reportedly damaged by quadrocopters while stationed at the Machulishchy airfield in Belarus. The Belarusian opposition reported at the time that the attack was conducted by local partisans.
In early May, drones attacked an airfield in the village of Seshcha in Bryansk Oblast, damaging an An-124 transport plane.
The frequency of the strikes against Russian airbases increased in August. At least two Tu-22M3 bombers were destroyed and one was damaged in attacks against Novgorod and Kaluga oblasts on Aug. 19 and 21, Verstka reported.
Although the chief of Ukraine's military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov did not confirm that Kyiv was behind the two aforementioned attacks, he said that two bombers were destroyed and two more were damaged in the process.
Most recently, four Il-76 transport planes were damaged at a military airfield in the Russian city of Pskov overnight on Aug. 30, Verstka said. According to Ukrainian intelligence, the four planes have been destroyed, and two other aircraft were likely damaged.
According to Budanov, Russia currently deploys 436 military aircraft in offensive operations against Ukraine.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Martin Fornusek
